Display rack



3 13, 1939 E. E. SULLIVAN 3 9 DISPLAY RACK Filed Aug. 29, 1938 Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY RACK Illinois Application August 29,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to display racks for merchandise and, among other objects, aims to provide a greatly simplified, relatively inexpensive, sturdy and reliable merchandise rack having provision for holding a great number of packaged articles threaded on holding elements and so arranged that the articles may be removed one at a time, in the order in which they are inserted to insure freshness. Another aim of the invention is to provide a rack of this type having provision for inserting the merchandise or articles from the rear, thereby making it impossible for meddlers to remove the displayed packages from the front Without tearing or pulling them loose from their holding elements.

Other aims and advantages of the invention will appear in the specification, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a package display rack embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rack shown in Fig. 1.

Referring particularly to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, the rack there shown is primarily designed for dispensing packaged articles, such as nut meats, candies or confections and the like. It is so constructed as to hold a number of different packaged articles exposing them at the front so that customers may pick off packages from the front in the order in which the packages are applied to or loaded on the rack, thereby exposing the next packages behind the ones removed, and insuring more or less uniform freshness of the dispensed articles.

The rack is shown as having a pair of identical standards or uprights l0, conveniently formed of heavy wire or round bars and bent in triangular form at the bottom to provide bases II which afford a stable support on a counter or on the floor. The ends of the base portions may be spotwelded to the rods at the upper apices of the triangular portions. Incidentally, the base portions extend forwardly of the uprights a substantial distance to prevent a load on the rack from causing it to tilt over.

Herein, supporting bars l2 conveniently in the form of horizontal strap metal members are shown as being connected at their opposite ends 50 to the uprights or standards It. In Fig. 1, they are shown as being bent at their ends and welded to the uprights. They are spaced apart a suitable distance to expose the articles to be displayed, the spaces depending upon the length of the packages. Each of the bars is shown as 1938, Serial No. 227,398

carrying a series of substantially parallel spaced package-carrying hook-shaped supporting members i3. .hey are shown as being substantially U-shaped with their bent portions extending forwardly and downwardly from the supporting bars. In this instance, they are shown as being secured to the bars 52 by welding one end to the upper faces of the bars. The arrangement is such that the rack elements present exposed depending and rearwardly projecting prongs or tines M with upwardly bent ends l5 behind the plane of the standards 56. The prongs are shown as being forwardly and downwardly inclined and packaged articles may be suspended on these one behind the other.

The standards are shown as extending above the uppermost supporting bar l2 and a sheet metal plate Id of any convenient shape suitable for carrying advertising matter is connected to these projecting upper ends by rolling or curling its ends around the standards and/or welding them together. This top plate also serves to strengthen or brace the rack.

To provide a convenient means for suspending the whole rack from a nail or other projecting support, there is shown an inverted U-shaped bail member or wire I! welded to the rear edge of the top cross bar 52. It lies in a plane parallel with and slightly spaced from the sheet metal plate l6, so that also serves as a convenient holder in conjunction with the plate for placards or advertising cards and the like which project above the plate.

A plurality of packages I 8 of merchandise, such as nuts and candy, are shown as being suspended from the rack elements. Each package, which is usually made of Cellophane, glassene paper or the like, has a reinforced upper closed end or stiffening tab l 9 of such shape as to carry printed matter advertising the articles and these tabs are shown as having perforations 2B slightly larger than the supporting prongs or fingers of the rack elements. Each of the tabs is also conveniently slitted above its perforation at 2i to permit it to be pulled loose from its supporting finger by expanding the slit and without breaking the seal of the package. However the slits may be omitted, thereby making it necessary for a customer to tear or sever the upper edges of the tabs above the perforations when removing one of the pack ages. This puts a customer under obligation to purchase a removed package and serves to prevent the curious from meddling with them. It is also contemplated that non-perforate bags or packages having imperforate tabs may be threaded on the fingers by puncturing the bags or tabs. For this purpose, the ends I 5 of the prongs or fingers may be sharpened.

It will be noted in Fig. 2 that three packages behind each other are shown as being suspended from each of the prong elements. They are easily threaded on the fingers from behind the rack and the downward and forward inclination of the finers cause them to slide forwardly as the front packages are removed. Customers will naturally remove the exposed forward package on each rack element or in the order in which they were threaded on. This insures the sale of fresher articles than would be the case if they were removed promiscously or in some other order.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the rack is exceedingly simple in its construction and design. It is easy to manufacture and its cost is reduced to a minimum. It may be entirely assembled by bending, welding and cutting operations. The principal parts may be made of heavy wire. It is very rugged in its construction and consumes a minimum of display space for number of articles or packages which it carries.

Obviously, the present invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all the features of the invention be used conjointly, since they may be employed advantageously in various combinations and sub-combinations.

I claim:

1. A merchandise display rack for holding a multiplicity of packaged articles comprising, in combination, a pair of spaced upright supporting standards; horizontal bars rigidly connected to the uprights; and a plurality of package suspending prong members carried by each bar having their free ends projecting rearwardly behind said standards and each being downwardly and forwardly inclined in front of said bars, whereby a plurality of packages may be threaded on each prong from the rear of the rack and the first one inserted exposed at the front of the rack.

2. A merchandise display rack for holding a multiplicity of packaged articles comprising, in combination, a pair of spaced upright supporting standards; horizontal bars connected to the uprights; and a plurality of substantially U-shaped wire rack elements each having one arm rigidly secured to one of the bars and extending forwardly therefrom with the other arm depending below the bar and having its free end behind the plane of the standards, thereby providing prongs on which packages may be threaded and suspended in front of the plane of said standards with the first inserted packages on the several prong elements fully exposed, so that the packages will be removed by tearing them from the rack elements in the order of their insertion.

3. A merchandise display rack for holding a multiplicity of packaged articles comprising, in combination, a pair of metal standards; spaced strap metal cross bars Welded to the standards; and a plurality of substantially U-shaped wire rack elements each having one arm welded to and extending forwardly from said cross bars and the other arm providing 2. prong or tine projecting rearwadly behind the plane of the standads, whereby a plurality of packages may be threaded thereon from the rear of the rack and the first ones inserted on the several prongs exposed at the front.

EUGENE E. SULLIVAN. 

